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QTL analysis of main and epistatic effects for flour color traits in durum wheat

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with flour yellow color (Fb*) and yellow pigment content (YPC) in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum). Additionally, QTLs affecting flour redness (Fa*) and brightness (FL*) color parameters were investigated. A population of 93 RILs (UC1113 × Kofa) was evaluated in three locations of Argentina over 2 years. High heritability values (>94%) were obtained for Fb* and YPC, whereas FL* and Fa* showed intermediate to high values. The main QTLs affecting Fb* and YPC overlapped on chromosome arms 4AL (4AL.2), 6AL (6AL.2), 7AS, 7AL, 7BS (7BS.2) and 7BL (7BL.2). The 7BL.1 QTL included the Psy-B1 locus, but one additional linked QTL was detected. A novel minor QTL located on 7AS affected Fb*, with an epistatic effect on YPC. An epistatic interaction occurred between the 7AL and 7BL.2 QTLs. The 4AL.2 QTL showed a strong effect on Fb* and was involved in two digenic epistatic interactions. The 6AL.2 QTL explained most of the variation for Fb* and YPC. The main QTLs affecting FL* and Fa* were located on 2BS and 7BL, respectively. These results confirm the complex inheritance of flour color traits and open the possibility of developing perfect markers to improve pasta quality in Argentinean breeding programs.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Jorge Dubcovsky for providing the molecular map and the mapping population to conduct the present analysis. This project was supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS) and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT, PICT 1011). We thank José Bariffi, Liliana Wehrhahne, Pavan Chand Akkiraju and Patricia Gomez for help with field experiments. We also thank Dr. John Rogers from Universidad Nacional del Centro, Bs. As., Argentina for reading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Biotecnología Vegetal, CERZOS-CONICET/UNS, CCT Bahía Blanca, Camino La Carrindanga km 7, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Pablo F. Roncallo, Alicia D. Carrera & Viviana Echenique

  2. Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Andrés 800, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Pablo F. Roncallo, Alicia D. Carrera & Viviana Echenique

  3. CEFOBI-CONICET, Suipacha 531 S2002 LRK, Rosario, Argentina

    Gerardo L. Cervigni

  4. INTA.CEI Barrow, Ruta 3 km 487, 7500, Tres Arroyos, Argentina

    Carlos Jensen

  5. Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas, Ruta 51 km 710, 8118, Cabildo, Argentina

    Rubén Miranda

  6. INTA EEA Marcos Juárez, CC 21, 2580, Marcos Juárez, Argentina

    Marcelo Helguera

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  1. Pablo F. Roncallo
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  2. Gerardo L. Cervigni
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  3. Carlos Jensen
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  4. Rubén Miranda
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  5. Alicia D. Carrera
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  6. Marcelo Helguera
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  7. Viviana Echenique
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Correspondence to Viviana Echenique.

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10681_2012_628_MOESM1_ESM.ppt

Fig. S1 QTLs mapping of flour brightness (FL*), flour redness (Fa*), flour yellow color (Fb*) and yellow pigment content (YPC) on chromosomes 1B, 5A and 5B in the linkage map of the UC1113 × Kofa RIL population. The centromere is indicated by a grey square. Markers are indicated to the right and their corresponding cumulative genetic distances are indicated to the left. Vertical bars represent the QTL confidence interval with 2-LOD drop off with the name (environment) at the top and the position of the peak is indicated by a horizontal line (genetic map from Zhang et al., 2008) (PPT 195 kb)

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Roncallo, P.F., Cervigni, G.L., Jensen, C. et al. QTL analysis of main and epistatic effects for flour color traits in durum wheat. Euphytica 185, 77–92 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-012-0628-x

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